Fidelius Betrayed
by WeasleyTwin2
Summary: The story of Sirius Black from the death of the Potters to the end of PoA told from Sirius' POV.
1. Part One: The Betrayal

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. They belong to J.K. Rowling but I've borrowed them for a time.

Author's note: This story is told from Sirius Black's POV and takes place from the night of the Potter's death till the present day. Enjoy.

# Fidelius Betrayed

### Part I: The Betrayal

** **

## By WeasleyTwin2

We stumble in a tangled web, decaying 

Friendships almost dead

And hide behind a mask of lies

We twist and turn and we avoid

All hope of salvage now devoid

I see the truth inside your eyes.

_A Thousand Words_

__**Savage Garden**

** **

## Do you hear the people sing

Lost in the valley of the night?

It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light.

_Les Miserables_

_ _

"…involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the…Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find – unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it." 

Professor Flitwick, Chapter 10

_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_

"Why?… Why them?"

My heart was in agony, shattered into a thousand pieces.

"My… best friends… dead…. He must have betrayed them!"

One whom we once thought friend must have turned to evil. I was stunned and my world was spinning out of control. It was too much of my grieving mind to take in.

"Wormtail… your dead!" my soul cried and the cry echoed in my heart. 

I stared at the ruins of the Potter's once happy home, tears streaming down my face. Why had I decided to let Peter be Secret-Keeper. James had chosen me.

"This is all my fault…" I thought as smoke obscured the ruins from my sight.

Had I just been to cowardly to face Voldemort and what he would do if he found how we hide the Potter's from him or had he messed with my mind, leading me into betraying the ones I had wanted to protect? I didn't have the answer.

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A flashback:

A warm autumn day, blue sky, colored leaves falling outside the window. James and Lily sat holding each other as they always did, especially since this all began. Harry slept in his crib nearby. I bent over him and he opened his eyes, smile and reached out a hand toward me. I smiled with a touch of sadness.

"What brings you here, Padfoot old friend," asked James worriedly.

"Always one to get straight to the point, Prongs.Then I shall as well. I don't think I should be your Secret-Keeper. It's too well known that we are close friends and have been for years. We are closer than brothers and that could jeopardize the plan. If Voldemort should find out about the Fidelius Charm…"

I trailed off unable to finish the sentence, not really daring to put what I was thinking into words.

"But Sirius…" began James, his eyes growing wide behind his glasses.

"Sirius we trust you with our very lives. Don't…" began Lily quietly, unshed tears and fear in her eyes.

I was pleased that James and Lily trusted me so much but I would not be swayed.

"I'm asking you to trust me," I said urgently. "I'm too close to you, James. We have to find someone else… someone Voldemort wouldn't think of… would never suspect."

A thought flashed across my mind so suddenly it was like magic. It seemed perfect, the perfect person to keep the Potter's secret safe. The perfect plan.

James nodded and Lily waited expectantly. I glanced out the window and watched the autumn leaves falling.

"How about Peter?" I suggested casually.

James and Lily looked at each other, then turned to look back at me, confusion in their eyes. 

"Peter…" James trailed off.

"We haven't seen much of him in a few years," said Lily simply.

"Exactly, while you see me all the time. Voldemort will never even look for Peter especially if I draw him off. We'll let Voldemort believe that I am your Secret-Keeper while all the while the real one, Peter, remains safe."

"Shouldn't we tell Dumbledore of the switch, at least…" began James.

"No one must know, can't you understand. You can't give away information if you don't know it. Only Peter, you two and I will know. It will protect Peter and you that much more."

"But what if something goes wrong. You could be…" said Lily with concern.

"Honestly, you worry to much. Everything will be fine and we'll be laughing about this whole thing in a few months. Now I really should go."

"But…" they began again.

"Don't worry. Trust me. But I wouldn't delay doing the charm if I were you. Everyday without it brings the danger that much closer. I'll see you again when all this is over."

We hugged and I gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. He pulled my hair and smiled again. I smiled back and then left the house. James and Lily stood framed in the doorway, holding each other as I walked briskly away. I turned back and waved to them and they waved back. I turned the corner never knowing that this would be the last time I ever saw them alive.

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The smoke from the fire made me cough. It spiraled up into the air where the wind scattered it. I felt as disjointed as the smoke high above me. Nothing was right anymore. I couldn't feel. I couldn't think. I just stood there staring down at the bodies of my two best friends, surrounded by fallen debris. I held a struggling Harry in my arms, the only survivor of this treacherous night. I hadn't believed it when I found him still alive amid the rubble that was once his home. Lily had fallen right over him shielding him with her body. Voldemort must have tried to kill him but somehow Harry had survived with nothing more than a deep lightening bolt-shaped cut on his forehead. I shuddered as I looked at it. Voldemort had marked him before fleeing the scene and I wondered what kind of life Harry would have in our world now. I feared for him as I had once feared for his parents and I knew I couldn't offer him any protection, not on the dark journey I needed to make. He would be a distraction and I couldn't afford that. Maybe later, when I found Peter…

"Maybe Dumbledore…" I thought for a moment. "No I couldn't ask him and Harry would be in danger as long as he stayed in the wizarding world."

I wracked my brains, trying to find a solution to my quandary.

"Sirius…" I heard a familiar voice and I turned. 

"Headmaster…" I began. (I could never get used to calling him Albus, though we were both adults now.

"Tragic… tragic night and yet one filled with great happiness," he said, his eyes taking in Harry and the cut on his forehead.

"Sir, what shall we do… where can we send Harry?"

"He will go to his Muggle relatives. It's safest for him there, I think."

"Yes," I said numbly.

I handed Harry to Dumbledore, who in turn handed him to Hagrid, who I had just noticed.

"Po'r little tike." Hagrid said, looking down at Harry sadly.

Changing my mind I reached out my arms that had been holding Harry a moment before and said quietly, "Let me take him. I am his godfather.

Hagrid and Dumbledore exchanged veiled glances.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. I have me orders. It's to the Muggles he must go."

"Take my bike," I said gesturing in its direction. "I won't need it anymore."

"Ta Sirius, and I'm so sorry." Hagrid trailed off, unable to continue through his great sobs. 

I found myself sobbing too, unable to control my grief any longer. For several minuets we stood there in grief-stricken silence with tears running down our faces. I hugged him for a moment and received a bone-crushing hug in return. Soon he mounted my bike and disappeared from my sight.

"…great happiness mingled with great sadness…" muttered Dumbledore as if remembering something.

"What… sir," I asked.

"Nothing. We'd better leave. The Muggles will be here any moment."

He dragged me away from the ruins and I followed, unable to resist him. Finally we stopped at the edge of the nearby forest.

"Sirius you must not blame yourself. No one can hold out for long against Voldemort's tortures. We're just luck Harry survived. He's the one meant to defeat Voldemort forever.

You've done all anyone could do and more besides."

I looked at Dumbledore with horror ignoring his speech about Harry. He thought I had somehow divulged the secret of their hiding place to Voldemort. He didn't… couldn't know it was much worse than that. He couldn't know that a friend had joined with the Dark Side. He gave me a sharp look then and I knew my emotions must be written clearly on my face.

"Well, I must be off. Got to make sure Harry gets settled properly. Good bye Sirius," 

After another veiled look at me he disappeared, leaving me standing alone wishing I had told him of the switch. Trying to shake the feeling of dread within my heart, I stumbled into the forest to begin my search for Peter.

To be continued soon.


	2. Part Two: Trials of Sirius Black

# A/N: Well, after much work I give you Part 2 of this fic. Sorry it took so long but I've been working on other things (**Final Confrontation **and **In His Memory**) so I didn't get back to it until now. Thanks for you patience. Please review and enjoy the story. 

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine but then you already knew that. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

# 

# 

# 

# Fidelius Betrayed

## Part Two: The Trials of Sirius Black

### By: WeasleyTwin2

#### But the tigers come at night

_With their voices soft as thunder_

From _Les Miserables_

_ _

_The things we love completely we are fated to destroy_

___My Heart Dances _from_ The Road to El Dorado_

_ _

The woods were dark and silent. Voldemort must have frightened the animals away. Most of them couldn't abide the smell or feel of anything evil. I tried not to think about the fact that Lily and James were horribly dead nor about little Harry who must now live with his Muggle relatives. I had but one thought in my head and that was to find Peter. If I could find him and get him to surrender to the authorities then I could take Harry and raise him. Just before the charm had been performed James and Lily had made me Harry's guardian. I didn't know much about raising a child but I was willing, when this was all over, to try. I couldn't be any worse for the child then those Muggle relatives of Lily's who I knew hated anything to do with the Potter's or magic.

"Poor Harry…" I mumbled, wondering how long his stay with the Dursley's would be.

I stopped at the edge of the forest and paused to rest against a tree. Moonlight bathed the street before me and I looked up to see an almost full moon. I wondered where Moony was tonight and I hoped he would forgive me for thinking he was the traitor. I hoped he was still safely in hiding somewhere where no one would find him and where he would harm no one by accident. I knew that wherever he was, he probably grieved as I did for the loss of his friends. It was the very worst time of the month for him. I knew he would already be depressed because it was time for his monthly transformation into a werewolf. The news of the Potter's deaths would make him more depressed still.

Hoping that Remus would not be informed until after his transformation I stood scanning the street before me. I waited patiently, sitting with my back against a tree and then I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew it was morning. I yawned, stretched and scanned the street again. For a brief moment I transformed into a great black dog and sniffed the air, looking about me with the dogs better vision. There were several people out and about watching the Muggle police in the distance. I tried not to watch but my eyes were drawn toward the Potter's house. There was a curl of smoke above the house and the light of the fire that was still burning. This image burned itself into my mind, never to be forgotten. I took a deep breath taking in the scents that traveled on the pathways of the air. I smelled the smoke, the Muggles, flowers, damp earth, wood smoke and finally the scent I was waiting for: Pettigrew. I growled low in my throat and then I saw him. He was walking quickly toward me, hiding his face with a cap pulled low over his eyes. He walked quickly without appearing to be in a great hurry and even stopped to talk to one or two of the Muggles who were watching the fire and rescue workers before moving on.

"Prey… Kill…" said the more animal part of me with a low, deep growl as I watched Peter move on. 

I transformed back into a man and remained where the trees and undergrowth hid me. I told that animal part of me to take a long walk. I watched as Peter continued to move toward me and waited. Finally he passed my hiding place and I let him get a half a block ahead of me before I moved from the sheltering cover of the trees. I followed behind for a block more then I ran toward him intent on catching up with him. He heard my running feet and he turned, looking surprised to see me.

"S…S… Sirius? What are you doing here?" he said, looking frantically around with his beady little eyes as if seeking escape.

I stopped in the middle of the road and pulled out my wand, pointing it at him. He paled as he realized that I knew the truth. For a brief moment I saw fear and something else reflected in his eyes

"You know why I'm here. Traitor…" tears streamed down my face and in a voice choked with emotion I continued. "Why… Peter? How could you…? What did he…?"

I couldn't continue and Peter moved out into the street and walked toward me until he was but a few feet from me. He stared at me insolently at me with a small smirk on his face. 

"My Master bid it," he said still smirking.

Rage poured through me then and, I'm not sure why I did what I did next, but I advanced on him with my wand pointed steadily at his heart. I was barely able prevent myself from speaking the spell that would end his life. I wanted to kill him and yet…

### "How could you betray the Potters!" I shouted as a crowd of Muggles came running from nearby to watch this new excitement. I ignored them as best I could.

"You sold them to Voldemort!" I said rage coloring my voice, my wand beginning to glow a fierce, angry scarlet.

"No…" said Peter quietly, still wearing that insolent smirk. "You. Sold. Them. To. Voldemort." 

Then he shouted the words that still echo in my mind: " How could you, Sirius! Lily and James! You… You… vile… traitor!" He pulled out his wand and made a motion with it.

My eyes grew round with shock and surprise and I would have killed him then and there but the decision was taken forever out of my hands as an explosion rocked the area around me. The street began to sink around me and I leapt back as the concrete under my feet buckled. I fell to my knees and the Muggles around me began to scream loudly, running in different directions. I rolled out of the way as a large sinkhole appeared in the street where Peter and I had been standing just a moment before. 

When I was able to stand again I noticed several people standing nearby in a huddled mass, their eyes wide, staring at the destruction around them and at me. There were others lying as if they slept and still others moaning or shouting in pain. I looked down at the crater where a few moments before Peter had been standing. There was nothing there now except several large sewer rats that were writhing around and squealing in terror and a heap of bloodstained robes. For some reason I found the rats amusing and I began to laugh out loud. The Muggles stepped back from me then and it was then that I noticed the fear in their eyes. This shocked me into silence for a moment as it's meaning became clear. They thought I caused all this destruction. I looked at the rats and laughed again at their naïveté. 

I was still laughing when the authorities picked me up. I could seem to stop and I truly think that I lost my mind for a brief time. I don't remember anything from the time I was arrested until just after they had questioned me. I can't even remember the questions they asked or my answers. I was sitting in my holding cell when someone entered and that somebody made me snap back to reality as if I had never left it.

"Headmaster…" I choked out, hardly daring to believe my eyes. If anyone could fix this mess I had created it would be Albus Dumbledore

He shook his head sadly and wouldn't look directly at me. Briefly I saw the pain and sorrow reflected in his eyes.

"Sirius… Why…" he said, sorrow etching his voice.

My eyes streamed tears again and I threw myself on the cot unable to say the hundreds of things I wanted to. He believed that I had done these terrible things. I could tell this by his voice. My heart began to beat wildly in my chest, like a trapped animal. Did the others believe that I had? My spirit shuddered at the thought. I knew now it would be useless to say anything. Without Peter as proof of the switch I was as good as imprisoned or dead. My heart was in anguish and I began to fell the stirrings of fear in my soul. What would become of my now? I lay there silently shaking with sobs unable to stop. I had, in one 24-hour period, lost everything I once held dear. My life was now a ruin. All of my choices had led me astray. All my hopes and dreams lay shattered like broken glass. If Dumbledore was surprised by this display he said nothing.

"They… are to be… buried… today," he said quietly, his grief evident in his voice.

My head jerked up and I looked at him with my eyes mutely pleading.

"Please let me go… I need to say goodbye…" my eyes said. Dumbledore shook his head slightly and looked at me as if I wasn't really there, a look of sadness in his eyes.

"It would not be a good idea. You have been accused of murdering 13 people and betraying your best… James and Lily."

I was stunned and I shook my head trying to deny what he was saying. I wanted to shout that I was innocent, that I had been set up, that I wasn't capable of such hideous crimes. The shock of such accusations had struck me speechless. I sat mutely, with tears running down my face. I needed to say goodbye… to apologize to James and Lily. I HAD to. 

"So you can see why you'll not be allowed to attend the funeral. Not after all you've done," there was anger and pain in his voice. "Your trial is set for two weeks from today. I hope you will think about what you have done and the pain you have caused. Goodbye, Mr. Black."

The coldness in his voice washed over me and I looked up into his eyes. They glared down icily at me and I shrank back suddenly afraid. I had never, even as a student who was fond of pranks of every description, seen him look quite as angry as he did at that moment and I suddenly realized that he must be feeling as betrayed as I did, the only difference was that he though I was the traitor and I knew who the real traitor was. This was what hurt me the most. I cried out incoherently but he just turned his back on me and left without a backward glance.

I threw myself at the closed door after him, screaming "No!" at the top of my voice. I banged on the door with my fists and kicked it, yelling that I'd been framed, that I was innocent but no one heeded me. Why should they? I was nothing more then a mad criminal who had killed 13 innocent people, a traitor who had betrayed his best friends. Finally, after several futile moments, I limped back to my cot. I stared dully out the window not really seeing anything, the seriousness of the situation made clear at last. How long I sat there I'm not sure but all to soon it was sunset and the room began to grow dark. I began to cry, the tears creating a small pool at my feet. My friends, two of the best friends I had ever had were laid to rest without me to send them off and their son would have to live among the Muggles until his eleventh year when Hogwarts would release him if he survived that long. I had been denied the chance to say goodbye to James and Lily and my heart grieved so deeply that I ignored all else for the next several days. I couldn't eat or sleep or even think. All I could do was cry for my loss, cry for the hopes and dreams that were now scattered like so many fallen leaves.

The trail went by in a blur. I remember snatches of it even now but I don't like to think about it. I felt helpless and grief was still haunting me to such a degree that I couldn't think nor speak. It was as if Peter's betrayal had cast a spell of silence on me. Everyone had long ago made up their minds regarding my guilt and there was nothing I could say that would prove my innocence. My only proof was dead and so was everyone who knew that Peter had been the Potter's Secret Keeper. It was hopeless and the hopelessness of the situation depressed me. The worst of it all was that everyone, even Dumbledore, believed I was capable of the crimes I'd been accused of. I knew I was innocent but there was no way to prove it. I was sentenced to Azkaban for life if one could be said to have a life in that dread place. A life surrounded by dementors night and day, losing a little of myself each hour, slowly going mad. When they pronounced the sentence, my mind reeled and my body trembled.

"No…" I mumbled unable to believe it, my mind going numb, almost fainting.

I burst into tears then and shouted out that they had the wrong man. I had to be lead away because I couldn't see and because I had run straight for the judge's bench with what must have been a crazed look on my face. I stared back over my shoulder at the roomful of people who had just condemned me. They had become an indistinct blur of color and light. I couldn't believe it. Everything had changed so quickly and my fate seemed sealed. The real world receded before me and a new darker world took its place. No one had ever escaped from Azkaban. The path I took now was a shadowed one and one that I felt sure I would never be free of again. My journey had started in darkness and now it appeared to have ended in that same darkness. My heart and body trembling, I followed the guards out and left the world I had known behind me forever.


	3. Part Three: Cell in Azkaban

# A/N: Here is the third installment of my story. Please review! None of these characters are mine. I've just borrowed them for a time. They really belong to J.K. Rowling. Enjoy!

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# 

# Fidelius Betrayed

## Part Three: A Cell in Azkaban

### By: WeasleyTwin2

#### Will the birds they put in cages

#### Ever ride upon the wind?

##### The Birds They Put in Cages

****From the Musical: **Notre-Dame de Paris**

** **

_My life was a war that could never be won._

_They gave me a number then murdered Valjean_

_When they chained me and left me for dead…_

****Jean Valjean

**Les Miserables**

** **

** **

** **

The wizard prison of Azkaban was worse then the worst nightmare I had ever had. My spirit became a shadowed, haunted thing full of half remembered images and regrets. What ifs scattered across my mind, a thousand scenarios in which I was able to save James and Lily's lives, to protect them, to ward off Voldemort's attack. I, who had once been the happiest of the four of us, had now sunk into a deep depression from which I was never likely to arise again. All happiness was leached out of me within my first week there and in the months that followed fear, grief and hunger became my constant companions. I now knew with certainty that no one was going to free me. They truly believed that I had committed the crimes I'd been charged with. I wallowed in a black pit of despair when this became clear. This black mark on my name was Peter's final act of betrayal. Even if I could prove my innocence there would always be some people who would believe I had done these things no matter what was said officially. With one flick of his wand he had turned everyone against me and it was this thought that haunted me through the first months of my stay and which continues to haunt me even now.My mother had threatened me with a stay in Azkaban if I didn't tow the line as a child. I had laughed at her, knowing she didn't truly mean it. I wasn't laughing now and I would probably never laugh again.

My thoughts, my memories began to slowly slip away. I fought with grim determination, clinging desperately to the faint wisps that my thoughts had become. Over and over my soul cried out "I am innocent!" like some strange litany. I held to this thought stubbornly, knowing it to be true. It was not a happy thought because it was connected with the night Peter betrayed us all. He had made me into the criminal and yet a part of my mind thought '_you are as much to blame as he. It was you who told the Potters to use Peter as Secret Keeper. Voldemort got what he wanted anyway… through you as surely as if you had been the one casting the curse.' _I wanted to deny this but I couldn't because I knew my mind spoke the truth. I couldn't help thinking that things would have turned out differently if I had been the Secret Keeper instead of Peter. Maybe the Potters would still be alive. As time passed I became more and more certain that if I had remained the Potters Secret Keeper then James and Lily would still be alive and I would still be free. Hurt, rage, despair and grief swirled around me and drew me downward into never ending darkness and madness.

Time in the outside world passed but I was unaware of its passage. Time meant nothing to one trapped for most of the time within a mind slowly going insane. It seemed like an eternity had passed since I had been brought here and yet one thought stayed with me. I knew I was innocent of all the crimes I had been charged with. Even when all my other thoughts scattered I still knew this. Sometimes in my rantings I even dared to shout this to the shadowy figures that passed by my cell. They never listened of course but shouting it out loud helped me to remember the truth. I knew I had to remember this at all costs, even if I could never remember my own name. Over the years the presence of the Dementors grew and I began to feel myself slipping farther and farther away into nothingness. I fought them with a stubbornness I never knew I had, trying to hold onto any part of myself and my memories that I could find. After what seemed like a lot of time (perhaps several years) I was rewarded. I began to notice that I wasn't as affected by the Dementors as others were. While the other prisoners continued ranting I was able, at long last, to stop. For some inexplicable reason I had retained my powers, even though Dementors were supposed to drain a wizard of them. For hours at a time I was able to transform into my dog form, thus holding on to the small shred of sanity left to me.

The only thing I couldn't get rid of was the presence of the Dementors all around my cell, nor could I get used to them. I knew the charm to keep them at bay of course but I needed my wand to do it and it had been taken from me. I wondered where it was now because I knew it hadn't been snapped. A wizard always knows when his wand is snapped. There is a backlash of power from it to the wizard when it happens. I hadn't felt that backlash so, therefore, my wand must still be somewhere around. Probably it was locked up even as I was. I could feel its power vibrate within me but I knew I must keep the fact that I knew it a secret because if they knew I knew they would snap it, so I said nothing.

The Dementors grew in number around me as time passed but I didn't have a clue as to why. I just figured it was normal for them. Their coldness and despair pervaded my soul and made me shiver but I tried, as best I could, to ignore them. Two things seemed to keep them from affecting me much; my transformations into a dog because a dogs thought are not as complex as a humans and something else which I couldn't begin to understand nor even explain.

It would happen during my times of deepest depression, when the Dementors had me fully in their power. Suddenly, I would feel their power recede into the background. Then a warmth would spread around my cold, dank cell and I would feel as if someone had thrown a warm and heavy blanket over me. The warmth would then spread throughout my body, pushing away the coldness and numbing despair that surrounded me. When this happened I would sit for hours in a trancelike state where it was possible for me to think clearly. I would then remember who I was and remember other things I had long since forgotten in my time in this dread fortress. I saw myself, side by side with my friends, roaming the school grounds and Hogsmead by day and night. I felt nothing but happiness during these times in trance and not even seeing Peter in those memories bothered me. I was just glad of the respite those memories gave me. I never saw anyone during these times, no bright lights, no ghostly beings, I just knew something was there watching over me and that someone was as interested in my survival as I was. 

It was during one of these sessions that I discovered something important. Peter may in fact still be alive. I was watching a replay of the day I confronted him and I remembered the sewer rats that had been squealing in terror. Peter, like James and I, had been an animagi and his form was that of a rat. He could have transformed to this form and hidden himself, unnoticed by the authorities, among those rats I remembered. No one else knew he was an animagi except his three friends because he, like us, had never registered that fact with the proper authorities. I jumped out of bed. If he was still alive then he was all the proof I needed to free myself. The traces of the Fidelius charm would still be upon him. If I could find him… the excitement that I had known melted from me then. I had no way to find him. I was imprisoned in a place none had ever escaped from.

"What if I were to try though?" 

The thought came unbidden into my mind. This was not the first time I had had this thought. I had many times in the past thought of escaping but knowing that I was in a fortress in the middle of the cold North Sea, with the nearest land miles away I had given it up as impossible. Now surrounded by warmth I began to see how it might be possible. I couldn't escape Azkaban as a man but as a dog… It just might be possible. I knew the Dementors wouldn't notice if I passed out of my cell as a dog. They can't see, they only feel and it was harder for them to feel a dog's thoughts. I could then swim back to land and begin my search for Peter. My dog form, though it was weak, was stronger then my human form and knowing they would be looking for me after my escape I decided to travel as a dog.No one but my three friends knew I was an animagi and of the three one was dead, the second in hiding somewhere I was sure and the third, if he still lived, had his own problems. I resolved to try and escape if I could manage it.

When the chill of the Dementors returned to me they were unable to drive the thought of escape from me. I wanted to be free. I needed to clear my name before it was too late. My mind made plans and my spirit was somewhat restored. I waited only for the voice inside me to tell me when it was time. So the waiting game began.

One day as I sat in my cell, going over my escape plan for the hundredth time, I became aware of voices outside my cell in the passage beyond. I strained my ears to listen more carefully. One was a voice I recognized, someone from my past. I racked my brain, trying to come up with a name, a face, something, anything that would help me identify who spoke. Quite suddenly the voices stopped right outside my cell. I got up, crossed to the door and looked out of the barred window of my door. Two men were talking to one another in low tones. The first was unfamiliar to me but the second was someone I remembered.

"Fudge…" I croaked, having not used my voice in some time.

He whipped his head around to look at me through the bars. 

"Sirius Black?" he asked, faintly surprised.

I nodded, not trusting my feeble voice to speak again. I noticed that he had a newspaper tucked under his arm and suddenly I felt the need to know what year it was.

As he turned away to leave I asked hoarsely, "Are you finished with the Daily Prophet? I really miss doing the crossword, most of all."

He turned and gave me a penetrating stare before replying, "I'm finished with it and I can't see what harm you could do to yourself with it."

He handed it to me through the bars still looking puzzled by my actions. I smiled faintly and thanked him for the paper. He left after that still shaking his head. I didn't care because I had what I wanted from him. I opened the paper and looked for the masthead where the date always appeared. The date was 31 July 1993. I was shocked. It had been 12 years since I had last had news of the outside world. Twelve long, wasted years in prison for a crime I had not committed. Rage such as I had never known surged through me and unhappiness filled my heart.

I glanced down at the date again. Something about it was familiar about it. I sat deep in thought for some time ignoring the screams around me. Suddenly, Harry's smiling baby face popped into my head.

"Of course it's Harry's birthday."

I added up the years in my head and discovered that Harry was now thirteen and he would be attending Hogwarts. I wondered what he looked like now. When I had last seen him he was a bright-eyed, black-haired baby with a ready smile. Would he now look like James or more like Lily? Had his return to the wizarding world caused a stir? Was he the prankster his father had been? Had the Muggles treated him all right? I decided that I would look for him as I traveled the land in search of Peter who held the answers to all my questions.

I glanced through the paper, not really interested in anything else. As I glanced I noticed things has changed somewhat but yet seemed to remain the same. I was about to put the Prophet down when something on the front page caught my attention. It was a picture of a large and very happy family on vacation in Egypt. One could never mistaken the Pyramids as being from anywhere else. The Pyramids were not what held my attention though. There was a rat on the shoulder of what looked like the youngest boy.

"Peter…" I murmured, not daring to believe what I saw.

I rubbed my eyes and looked again but the image remained the same. It was he. I could never forget the exact form Peter took when he changed. All this time I had thought he was dead and here he was hiding as a rat in the wizarding world too. He'd been right there under everyone's noses for the entire twelve years I'd been in prison. Anger surged through me but I squelched it and read the article instead. My heart leapt into my throat. Peter would be at Hogwarts with Harry. I had to do something. I had to protect Harry from him. He was the traitor and a traitor could betray again. Harry was in the gravest danger as long as Peter was near him. I could see him smirking at Harry, as he had once done to me, watching while his master put an end to the last Potter.

"He would just love to be the one to hand Harry over to Voldemort," I thought bitterly. "That would restore him to the position of Voldemort's favorite."

I now waited in earnest for a chance to escape. Every day, every moment of my time was taken up with my escape plans. Waking and sleeping I repeated to myself, "He's at Hogwarts. He's at Hogwarts", like a litany. The Dementors probably thought I had gone off the deep end at last but I wasn't mad. I had become obsessed with finding Peter and killing him. I no longer cared that he was the only one who could clear my name. I just wanted his threat eliminated. In doing so I would be saving Harry's life and would finally have committed the crime I had been accused of and sent to prison for. The cost meant nothing to me just the saving of Harry's life. Protecting Harry meant everything to me. He was too important to the coming battle to lose. I was willing to save his life even if it meant that I had to sacrifice my own. I knew if I was caught I would be "killed" by the Dementors but it didn't matter. Harry's life was worth more then my own.

I waited impatiently for the time to come. Finally, one day I could stand it no longer. Perhaps it was the screaming and madness that surrounded me. Perhaps it was the dream I had the night before where I saw Peter handing a bound, gagged and defenseless Harry over to Voldmort. Perhaps my inner voice was telling me it was time. I resolved that day to escape the next time the door was opened. I changed into a dog and waited for the food to arrive. At long last I heard the key in the lock and saw the door open. Quick as a wink I bounded out the door and down the passage they had brought me up 12 years before. I could smell the salt in the air and I followed the scent to a pair of heavy wrought iron gates. I was just thin enough to slip through them easily and soon I was bounding down the rocky shore to the sea. I jumped into the sea on reaching the shoreline not wasting a moment in reflection or in looking back at the prison I now left behind me. 

The water was icy cold and I knew I must hurry even as a dog. I swam for all I was worth. It seemed like hours later, which it was, when I was at last able to drag myself up onto the opposite shore to lay in a sodden heap on the sandy ground, shivering with the cold.

After several minuets I rose and took a look around me. This shore seemed familiar to me for some reason. Suddenly I realized that I had landed near my childhood home. This beach was where my friends and I had spent many summer holidays during school. I smiled the first real smile I had in awhile and crawled into the nearby woods to seek shelter. I found a pile of fallen leaves that made a soft bed and I fell instantly asleep, with a wide grin on my face. I was free at last.__


	4. Part Four: Freedom and Memories

# A/N: None of these characters belong to me. They belong to Ms. Rowling. Please read and review. Thanks.

# 

# 

# 

# Fidelius Betrayed

Part Four: Freedom and Memories

## By: WeasleyTwin2

### A tortured soul

_A wound unhealing_

_No regrets or promises_

_The past is gone_

_But you can still be free_

_If time will set you free_

#### You Can Still Be Free

**__**Savage Garden

##### This shattered dream you cannot justify****

**_Invincible_**

**__**Pat Benatar

### Somewhere…

_We'll find a new way of living,_

_We'll find a way of forgiving_

_Somewhere…_

**_Somewhere_**

From the musical: **_West Side Story_**

------------------------------------------

A noise quite nearby awoke me the next morning. I jerked instantly awake and found myself staring at a squirrel that was chattering away at me and flipping his bushy tail. I was surprised that I could understand what he was saying. Apparently I had protected him from predators by sleeping under his tree and he was thanking me. I nodded my head in reply and he hurried away. A few minuets later, just as I was about to leave, he returned with a small pile of nuts and berries, which he said, were for the brave man/dog. I changed into a man and I thanked him as best I could. I ate the lot. for I suddenly found that I was ravenous. It was the first real meal I had eaten in years and I enjoyed the different flavors and textures. I turned to thank him again but he had vanished back to wherever he had come from.

"Thank you!" I called out and I thought that I heard a chattering high above me as if the squirrel was saying "your welcome" but I could no longer understand his words.

I transformed myself back into a dog and began to make my way north toward Hogwarts and whatever awaited me there.It was so good to be free and my spirits began to soar. I began to run as fast as my legs would carry me. It felt good to feel the sunlight on my face and to smell the myriad of scents that came to me. No sunlight ever pierced the glum of Azkaban and the only smells there were of things wasting away. I took a deep breath of fresh air and then I took another. For a moment I was the same man I had been before the deaths of Harry's parents. I ran through the fields just for the sheer joy of running, happy memories flooding through me. My friends and I had run together in fields and woods like these when we were students. I felt as if the other three were running beside me again. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs on the prowl once more after so many long years apart. It seemed like we were together again. I saw in my mind's eye the pranks we had pulled as students and heard our laughter as each prank was talked about. We had been so carefree, totally unconcerned about the punishment we would receive if we were caught. We simply lived for the moment. Carpe diem was our motto then: Seize the day.

The pranks that we pulled off were all brilliant. James planned most of them but I was usually the one to pull them off. These pranks were nearly always team efforts but one of the best ones was planned and executed by me and me alone. One day, after a particularly nasty run in with some Slytherins who were mad because Gryffindor had managed to beat them at Quidditch, I decided to see how the Slytherins would feel if Gryffindor borrowed their house banner for a while. James told me that I shouldn't but I was angry and I guess I wanted revenge.James even threatened to take house points away "if" he caught me anywhere near the Slytherin Common Room or if the saw me with their banner, all the while rummaging in his trunk for the invisibility cloak to lend me with a huge grin on his face. I merely nodded and a few days later I wrapped the cloak around myself and slipped out into the night.After much thought, I decided to use a newly discovered passage that I had discovered that led straight to the Slytherin Common Room. I slipped through the entrance just as the last Slytherin was making his way to the dormitories and bed. Quickly and silently I crossed the room and grabbed the green banner emblazoned with the silver serpent and backed toward the tunnel I had used, knowing that I would not be able to use it to get back to Gryffindor Tower because it was a one way tunnel. I would have to wait for a Slytherin to let me out.

Several hours later one of the Slytherins sleepily entered the common room to sit in one of the chairs there. Quietly and still invisible I snuck up on them and chanted a charm that would cause them to tell me the Slytherin password, which I had heard you needed to say before the hidden door would open. I sent the girl back to her bed and using the stolen password pureblood I left the Slytherin Common Room chortling.

I walked down the dungeon corridor and stopped at one of the classrooms to catch my breath, then I quickly and quietly made my way back to the Gryffindor Common Room where I set about altering the Slytherin banner. The coiled serpent became a cringing seven- headed serpent, one head each for the Slytherin Quidditch team. Before it towered a seven-headed Gryffindor lion with the golden snitch firmly grasped in its paws. The lion of Gryffindor was standing on the serpent of Slytherin's tail. The words that once graced the banner now read."The Slytherin team is a bunch of LOSERS who all need extra arms attached in order to beat Gryffindor at Quidditch. In fact while you're at the store getting extra arms maybe you should buy your Seeker extra eyes too. He sure could use them since he can't see worth a darn"

By the way, in case you didn't already know this:

GRYFFINDOR RULES AND SLYTHERIN DROOLS!!!!!!!!!!

I showed it to the others the next morning and I teased James, telling him he should turn me in for defacing school property but he just laughed and the other approved of the improvement I had made to the banner on the spot. We went down to breakfast earlier then usual to set up the banner where everyone would be sure to see it at the right time then we left the Great Hall and reentered it sometime later so that no one would immediately suspect us. 

"They'll know it was us, though " said Peter.

"Of course they will but it's no good hanging around at the scene of the crime," said Remus, a wise sage look on his face. 

"Oh yes, oh wise one! Do you know the meaning of life, oh great bearded prophet?" said James with a laugh as Remus tried to look wise.

Remus nodded and looked down his nose at all of us and said: "Yes I do in fact know the meaning of life and it is this…

He paused several minuets for dramatic effect and then he went on: " Never tickle a sleeping dragon."

Remus grinned and we all laughed as we sat down at the Gryffindor table. The Slytherin's were in a foul mood, of course they almost always were, but this time it was because someone had stolen their banner and they had no idea how it had been done. As soon as one of the Slytherins said the words "house banner" loud enough it appeared as if out of thin air. It unrolled itself and began to flash its message. Soon the whole hall was rolling on the floor with laughter, except for the Slytherins who were shouting loudly at the Gryffindors. After the hall had fallen silent the Slytherins ground their teeth in fury and swore they get even.

I grinned at the memory but then sobered quickly for I had reached more populated areas now. I slowed from a run to a walk and then stopped to rest once more. Above me I saw a Muggle street sign, which read Magnolia Cresent. 

"That's near where Harry would be living if his Muggle uncle and aunt hadn't moved in the last twelve years." I thought to myself, as an overwhelming urge to see Harry flooded through me.

Lily had told me where her sister lived in case anything ever happened to them and I needed somewhere to leave Harry.I was glad now that she had told me of them and where they lived even though she'd advised me never to visit them. 

"It's too dangerous for you here. You really should move on," my mind advised me but I ignored it completely as the need to see Harry overwhelmed me. 

Night had fallen and I decided, perhaps a bit unwisely, to stay near here for a bit hoping to catch a glimpse of James and Lily's son before heading north myself. I settled down between the garage and house to rest, my long journey had tired me out. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard the sound of a trunk being pushed along the ground by someone. I jumped up at the sound but made no move that might give me away. I knew the Ministry of Magic was searching for me. Soon the trunk came into view and then the person pushing it. I began to tremble with fear. Was I seeing a ghost? The man… no boy before me looked so much like James that for a moment I was confused. He had James' wild black hair and his body language was much the same as James' was when he was extremely angry about something. He kicked the trunk and muttered as he opened the truck to rummage around in it for something. Then he looked up and ran a hand through his hair. It was then that I realized that it wasn't James. I'd recognized the scar, though it had been twelve years since I had seen it last. It was Harry standing before me not his father. I marveled at how much they looked alike. I, who had been James best friend, would have been hard pressed to tell the difference between them. The only difference between then that I could see was the scar that Harry had. Without realizing I was doing it, I crept closer and continued to stare at him. I must have stared too long though for suddenly I heard Harry mutter "lumos" with his wand pointed right at me. For a moment I panicked then I began to slowly back away. Harry's eyes widened and I noticed for the first time that there was another feature that they did not share.

"He's got Lily's eyes," I thought as the light from his wand shone down on me. 

Harry's bright green eyes widened at the sight of me and he cried out. Then, with his wand arm outstretched, he fell landing hard on the ground. I heard the arrival of the knight bus, three loud booms. While Harry was distracted by it I fled down the street and out of sight thinking his reaction was because he knew who I was. I knew he would be safe on the knight bus. The driver was an old friend of mine from my student days and so I had no fear for Harry's safety. They would see to it that he got wherever he was going. I continued northward, though more slowly then before because of being in populated areas. I decided, against my better judgment, to return to my human form for a bit. A great black dog was more visible in large cities then one man would be or so I hoped.

As I traveled city-to-city, ever northward, I thought about Harry's reaction to me. Did he know I was an animagus? Had anyone ever told him about me? Did he think I was coming after him, the one person in the world I would never hurt? Had he been told that I had been the one who had caused the death of his parents? I had no real answers to these questions. Somehow I felt the need to know the answers though. I knew then that I would have to talk with Harry, get him alone somehow, to tell him the truth. I had to make him understand that I would never have betrayed my friends. It was important to me that, no matter what happened to me after I took care of Peter, someone would know the truth even it couldn't be used to save my life. I wanted Harry to be that person.

"Just let me find Peter. Let me get the opportunity to talk to Harry before it's all over. Just let me have a chance to end this torture."


	5. Part Five: Old Memories

# Fidelius Betrayed

Part Five: Old Memories

## By: WeasleyTwin2

### I will find the answer

### I'll never desert you

### I promise you this

_Till the day that I die_

__****

From the musical: **Jekyll and Hyde**

#### 

#### 

#### Will I want, will I wish

#### For all the things I should have done

#### Longin' to finish

#### What I only jes' begun?

#### 

#### **How Glory Goes **

#### ****From the musical **Floyd Collins**

#### ** **

#### ** **

#### Finally I arrived on the outskirts of Hogsmead near nightfall. In dog form, I hid in the woods that separated the village from Hogwarts proper. These woods were nominally a part of the Forbidden Forest but a high brick wall separated this forest from the Forest around the school grounds. I sat panting with my tongue lolling out, looking around with interest. This place was as familiar to me as my cell in Azkaban was but the smells here were the clean freshness of life not the smell of decay and death that hung over Azkaban Hope began to grow in my heart by just being free and in this place again. I, or maybe I should say we, had been here many times in our student days. If I looked up above me I would be able to see four sets of initials: R.M.L., P.W.P., S.P.B. and J.P.P. We had carved these initials into this wall in our final year, when the threat of Voldemort had begun to grow greater. We had all sworn an oath to always remain friends no matter what happened, no matter what darkness fell and to meet once a year on this very spot if we ever parted. The date had been fixed as Halloween night and for several years after we had meet here on that night but as Voldemort grew in power, and the danger increased we stopped meeting all together. A crack appeared in the armor of our friendship and it was through this that Voldemort was at last able to force us apart. We were supposed to have been inseperatable and invincible as long as we stood together. Four friends who stood against the evil of the world around us. But we had grown apart, had become distrustful of one another. Voldemort's darkness had forever broken up the "Mischief Makers of Hogwarts". His shadow had engulfed us, turned us against one another, and when his shadow was lifted on that October night it left one of us dead, one of us imprisoned, one of us in hiding and one of us devoid of friends. I lay there and wondered where we had gone wrong and what event had been the key to our downfall? Why had it been so easy for Voldemort to slip in and destroy everything in our lives? If I could turn back the hands of time, if I could change one event it would be that I remain Secret Keeper. This might have been the event that had led us all into darkness, which shattered our friendship, which had once seemed so strong.

#### 

#### I transformed back into a man, tears standing in my eyes, and reached out to touch the initials in the wall, putting faces with each though it had been years since I had seen any of my friends. I knew James was the last of us to come here and that had been mere hours before Voldemort had ended his life. I remember that night with a clarity that surprised me. He had asked me to go with him but I had refused to come because I sensed danger nearby. I knew Voldemort and his followers were searching for James and that the use of the Fedelius Charm would not protect him if he was not in the cottage in Godric's Hollow The night was full of the tension that comes when something bad is afoot I let him go alone, knowing full well that none of the others would be there. I tried to tell him this but he insisted on going anyway, though I tried to warn him of the danger. It was a matter of honor to him. Standing here twelve long years after the event that took his life and ruined my own I wished I had come with him then. I would have had a chance to talk to him one last time and would now carry the memory of our last conversation as friends. Instead I had pushed him away in anger and the friendship that had bound us together became strained. Voldemort's continued attacks were to blame for the tension but it was my actions or lack of them that had strained out friendship to nearly the breaking point. 

#### 

#### Instead of remembering laughter as a part of our final conversation, I remembered only angry, bitter words that I should never have directed toward James. I was so afraid for them and so angry at James apparent lack of concern for the danger that I had lashed out without thinking and had hurt my best friend. I also remember the look of fear and pain that was reflected in his silvery gray eyes. I had pushed him away and was never given the chance to apologize to him and for that I was deeply sorry. I lashed out in anger and he died never knowing that he was not the source of the anger, never knowing that I had misdirected my angry at my inability to face Voldemort toward him. As I stood on the spot he had probably stood on that night twelve years ago and looked at the initials we had carved there in our youth, I wondered what James had thought that night standing here alone. Did he know that he would die? Did he know Peter would betray us all? Did he know that our friendship would be severed forever in one 24 hour period? Did he realize that our lives would be shattered and that we would scatter like so many fallen leaves?I had no way of knowing what he had thought at that moment any more then I could know what he'd thought moments before he died but that didn't keep me from wondering.

#### 

#### Standing in the clearing where we had made so many plans and dreamed so many dreams, I could still feel them standing beside me. It was as if having one of us return to this sacred childhood spot called forth the spirits of the other three. I knew we were forever bound together by our oath even though that oath had been more fragile then any of us had realized and had been easily shattered by Voldemort's lies and deceptions. If I looked carefully, I knew I would see the remaining visages of the spell that was a part of the oath of brotherhood, radiating in lines from this clearing to each one of us, holding us together for all time in a bond that not even death and betrayal could break. I hadn't the strength to look, however. My power was still so weak and nearly useless without a wand. 

#### 

#### I was running my hand over the carving in the brick again, tracing the letters with my fingers, when I remembered that we had each left a memento behind at the time we carved the initials. The brick with our initials on it was covering a hollow space in the wall and we had made the brick appear solid. Only the four of us knew the password to open it: Gryffindor's Heir. The first part of the password made sense as we were all in Gryffindor but when I asked James about the second part, he just flashed that quick grin of his but he didn't reply.

#### With this memory in mind, I quietly said the password with my hand over my own initials. I felt a small stirring of power and I felt the block move under my hand, revealing the small hollow space. Not for the first time, I wished for my wand to light the gloomy shadowy hole in the wall. Instead, I stuck my hand into it and hoped there were no snakes hiding in there, as I hated them. My hand encountered some dirt, then a roll of something covered in leather, then several small objects and then a small piece of paper. Moonlight pierced the clearing and I was able to see the objects with the aid of the full moon.

#### 

#### I started with the last piece of paper first and my mind drifted back years, to the time of sunlight before the darkness, which had separated, us forever fell. It was a photograph. Four grinning boys waved energetically at me, their eyes twinkling merrily. One boy was making rabbit ears behind a second. The second was doing the same with the third and the third with the fourth. Each one looked down the line and began to laugh. Soon they were all laughing so hard they could barely stand up. They fell to the ground in a heap still laughing, their eyes twinkling merrily. The lake behind them shimmered in the sunlight. The four boys tried to stop laughing but ever time they had almost got their laughter under control, one of them would look at another one the laughter would start all over again. Finally, in desperation, they all got up and ran in four separate directions, racing off the picture entirely.

#### 

#### I smiled and would have laughed too but I knew that danger still stalked me and so I merely smiled the first true smile I had in ages. As I watched, slowly one by one they all crept back into the picture, smiles still playing across their mouths and their eyes still twinkling and full of good-natured humor. They waved at me again and then went to sit down by the lake. They were now talking animatedly about something but I was unable to figure out what. The four boys were Remus, Peter, James and I. Seeing the four of us together and happy as we had been in the past was almost depressing. Four friends, who had remained inseparable in youth, had been forever separated by the shadow that had been cast over our lives. It was a hard fact, as indelible and unmoving as Azkaban itself, we would never be as we once were-never be carefree and innocent again. The battle against Voldemort had changed us and we'd had to grow up faster then other children had. Our oath now could never be mended, nor our friendship restored to what it had been at the time this picture was taken. Too much had changed. Peter's betrayal weighed heavily on all of us but most heavily on me. It had taken everything from me and left me to rot in prison for a crime I had not committed. Everything I was had died the night they were killed and I could no longer recognize myself as the boy in the picture I now held. None of us were what we'd once been. The shadow that had been cast over our lives had seen to that, had separated us forever, had twisted our friendship until it weakened and snapped. That shadow was Voldemort.

#### 

#### I shook my head as I put the photo down and picked the roll of leather. I untied the twine hold it closed and began to unroll it. More pictures fell out and I gathered them from the pile of damp leaves they had fallen on and laid them aside, intending to look at them later. With a start, I recognized the other items in the in the roll: they were mementos of our years at Hogwarts…cuttings from the Daily Prophet and also several pieces of parchment that had begun to yellow. Each parchment roll was tied with a string and sealed with wax seals that depicted a wolf, rat, dog and stag. These pieces of parchment were the pledge we had made to one another and the lists of things we'd hoped to accomplish in our lives and also things we would leave to the students coming after us. 

Tears threatened to spill as I examined the top roll of parchment marked with a stag. I remembered how carefree and happy we'd all been on the day we'd placed these things in the secret compartment of the wall, promising to remain loyal to one another. I saw the memory through a hazy mist. The clearing before me blurred as the memory took hold of me and I saw the four of us together again as friends. I shook my head to clear it of the memories and turned my attention to the rolls of parchment in my hands. I sat on the ground and looked at James's roll, thinking how much I missed him. I broke the seal solemnly and carefully. My eyes misted over again but I knew I had to read what he'd written so long ago. I had to know what he'd been thinking about that day.

I, James Potter aka Prongs, do leave and bequeath the following to the underclassmen of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary:

  1. My abilities on the Quidditch Field to all whom play my position.
  2. The House Cup and the Quidditch Cup to all future Gryffindor's
  3. My school and House spirit to ever Gryffindor that passes through the portrait hole.
  4. My Transfiguration marks to Nessa Longbottem so that she might pass the class next term
  5. My Head Boy badge to the next in line
  6. A portion of my bravery to those who must face the coming tide of Darkness

Done this Day

June 24 1976

##### James Potter 

He had signed it with his usual flourish and in ink that kept changing colors that flashed as the moon's light hit the parchment. It continued on another piece, which I drew out to read:

Here follows the hope and dreams of James Potter:

  1. To marry my one true love. Lily and to raise our children to love the Light and to forever fight the Dark
  2. To fight Voldemort's evil where-ever it occurs, no matter how far or how long it takes
  3. To protect my remaining family from his threats and his evil intentions at all cost and hazard
  4. To protect my friend and those I love from his attacks even if this costs my life
  5. To keep Sirius out of trouble(grins)

I laughed at this last one and smiled, as I'm sure he knew I would. There was still a third piece of paper covered in James hand and a fourth page as well that looked newer then the rest. I pulled out the third page, scanned it and was surprised at what I saw written there.

Last night, the night before we Mischief Makers make our pledge, I had a very vivid dream. I dreamt that I was married to Lily and that we had a small son. We were living in a small cottage near a forest and were well loved by all who knew us. We were extremely happy and then darkness overshadowed our happiness. I saw it rise to engulf us, cutting us off from all the world. There was a flash of light, great pain and cries. There was a hissing, mocking voice and hoarse cries. A baby..our baby cried from somewhere nearby but I couldn't find him or Lily. Then there was a bright white light laced with gold… then darkness receded and a baby's cries were heard again…then more darkness and then I woke up. I wonder what it means? Is it a premonition of the future? I have no one that I can ask and I have never been good at divining the meanings of dreams but I have had this dream before. Every time I have had this dream some things within it change I wonder…

James had paused in his writing but never finished his thought. I began to wonder if he ever learned or was able to discover the meaning of the dream. Looking back with the advantage of hindsight, I knew exactly what it meant but had he ever been able to. 

"Probably not," I thought as tears ran down my cheeks and I turned to the last page.

I could tell that this was written more recently then any of the others but the date on the parchment gave me a moment's pause…it read October 31, 1981. He'd written this on the night he had died and in a great hurry judging by the scrawl that the writing had become. This note must have been the reason he'd been so insistent about coming to our clearing on that night, even though he knew the danger. He must have had an idea that something was up. Tears were forming in the corners of my eyes and the words ran together for a moment. I rubbed my eyes and tried not to read the paper in my hand but my eyes felt drawn to the words, shimmering in scarlet, on the page as a moth is drawn to a flame.

Voldemort will be coming for us soon just as the Prophecy has said he would…someone has betrayed us and there is very little time left. I only hope that you will use common sense and stay well away from it, Sirius and above all do not blame yourself for our deaths. There is nothing that you or I or anyone can do to stop what must be… we all knew this day would come...I hope you remember that you must care for Harry should anything happen to us. You made a promise to us and I'm holding you to it, Padfoot old friend. I f you are reading this now it is because we are no more and cannot speak to you in person and because, through our last spell, Harry still lives. There is another note within this wall that I…we ask you to be sure Harry gets when he is old enough to understand. It will explain everything about tonight. We have sent Dumbledore a copy also so that if one is lost another will still exist. Please make sure Harry knows that we loved him…and that we would never have left him of our own free will. We will always be in his heart even if we cannot be there physically. Let him know this. We will never be far and if he ever needs us, he has only to call and we will be there at his side. Tell him that he was never to blame for our deaths no matter what Voldemort might tell him. This final parting is so hard…I cannot believe that we will see each other no more after this night. I'm sorry that you didn't want to come with me on this journey for there was much that I wanted to tell you but I understand why you refused and maybe it's better this way. Please forgive me for any wrongs that I have done you in the past and know that I forgive you also. I know you will cone out of this time much stronger then before. Please take what I've said here to heart and try not to dwell on us too much. Fate has divided us but we're still together as long as one of us survives. We will never be far from you.

James and Lily Potter

I rolled the parchment up without paying attention to what I was doing. My eyes stared off into distant space but I couldn't tell you what I was seeing. I was lost in memories of the past and cared little about the noises around me or that I could be set upon by dementors at any moment. I stood for several minutes in silence as the memories of a happier time washed over me. I allowed myself to get lost in them for a moment not wanting to return to the present. I was smiling and yet tears were making silver tracks down my face. Finally, I forced my mind to return to the present and wiped the tears from my eyes with the back of my tattered sleeve. I noticed that I was clutching the roll of parchment tightly in my hand and I unrolled it again wanting to see what else it contained. 

The next two pieces were in my own hand and I smiled remembering that I had not taken this ceremony as seriously as the others had. I was always the prankster and I remained so even long after leaving school. 

I, Sirius Black aka Padfoot, do leave and bequeath the following to those who come after:

1.The Marauder's Map to all future Hogwartspranksters

2.A box of Fillibuster Fireworks that I have hidden somewhere in Gryffindor Tower to the same

3.All my cunning to the Weasley family

4.My good grades to John and Seamus

5.My bad and horrible humor to anyone who wants to claim them.

By my hand and done this 

Day…

Sirius Black, the Grim

Things I want or hope to do with my life:

1.Find a way to improve Dungbombs 

2.Invent a new unique flavor of Every Flavor Bean

3.Save the world …using Fillibuster Fireworks

4.Maybe settle down (Grins) No way!

5.Try and see how many Fireworks can be fed to…James …just kidding

6.Keep a smile on my face and laughter in my heart no matter what happens

7.Make everyone's life a happy one , to cheer them up when asked and to be the best friend possible to everyone

The others believed that I was taking Voldemort threat too lightly but I was not. I had been merely trying to defuse some of the tension in the air that day. Voldemort was on all of our minds that day; indeed he was on everyone's minds. I thought about him constantly and was so sure that the others were thinking of him too that I wanted to prove that I wasn't worried or even scared by him. The truth was I was not so much scared for myself as I was for the others. Voldemort could divide us forever and I feared for all of them. If I had known then maybe…

"Stop it…" I told myself. "What happened was not your fault."

The moon's light was being to wane and I could no longer read the words on the parchment in front of me. I rolled all the pieces of parchment up into its leather case to read later and went to sleep, thinking of old memories. I had strange dreams that night, dreams were we four stood together once more but I only was able to remember one of them. At least I thought it was us. We were standing together in a room that could only have been in the Shrieking Shack. The four of us stood talking and we were all young again but for some reason, James looked younger still. There was something different about him but I couldn't place what. There were also two other people in the room; a flame haired boy and a brown haired girl. They both looked extremely frightened and the boy's leg stuck out at a strange angle. 

The dream faded and I woke up to the sound of birds chirping in the nearby trees. The sun was shining brightly nearly right over my head and there were no clouds in the sky. My spirits began to rise and hope filled my heart for I was still free. I had made it this far and I began to feel as if I was capable of anything. I was just about to leave when I remembered the papers and the letter that James had mentioned. I walked back to the secret compartment and stuck my hand in again and pulled out an envelope addressed to Harry Potter that I had failed to notice the previous night. The handwriting was James'. In that moment I decided to take all of the papers with me to look at later. If I survived I would be coming back her again and if I didn't I would leave them for Harry to find. Harry would have the letter from his father though even if he found nothing else. I put the brick back in place over the compartment and muttered the password and it sealed itself up again. Moving away from our clearing I followed the wall until I reached small side door that only the four of us had known about. I muttered another password "Golden Snitch" and the door opened revealing a wild patch of forest and a path that was now covered in a vast tangle of undergrowth. I would hide here for the time being. No one had come here so there was little chance that I would be discovered. 

The forests shadowy embrace covered and I was glad for the cover, which would mask my presence here. I knew that the Hogwarts express had not yet arrived at Hogsmeade Station so there were no students yet but still I wanted to see them as they entered the castle that had once been a home to me. A longing to return to those days before the darkness fell overwhelmed me. I wanted to see Hogwarts again even if I never entered its walls again. I began to walk toward where I knew the castle to be, following a path that I knew as well as the secret passages of the castle. I got closer and suddenly felt cold and clammy as I realized too late that there were dementors on guard. I felt them as they moved passed me somewhere quite close by. I shivered and tried to drive them off even though I could not see them. My mind felt as if it was engulfed in a swirling fog and memories of the night my friends had died assailed me. I longed, more then anything, at that moment to flee this place, to put as much distance as I could between the dementors and myself but my quest prevented that. To my horror, I continued to move forward, the longing to see the school and to maybe catch sight of Harry again overwhelmed my fear of the dementors.

Quite suddenly, I found myself nearly running through the forest still in my dog form. I leapt a small stream, passed through several clearings startling deer and, once, a unicorn, which glowed with a silver light. Soon the trees before me thinned and then parted to reveal a many turreted castle before me. My eyes wandered over its familiar surface. It looked no different then the last time I had seen it though they may have magically added onto the building since I'd left it. My eyes came to rest on the tower, which held my old school house: Gryffindor. It rose taller then I remembered it and I briefly wondered how many students now attended Hogwarts. In my day there were very few but, the again, Voldemort had been on the rise then, as he had not been in the last 12 years. I shivered remembering that time of fear and worry, glad that Harry had not had to live with that kind of fear yet knowing that this peace could end if he were to rise again. I could feel dark magic stirring again. He was on the move once more and I could feel it in my soul. His will sends ripples in the magic current that anyone who is sensitive enough to them can feel. The most sensitive in the wizarding world is of course Harry. The lightning scar warns him of Voldemort because it is of Voldemort. It is his mark and the way he keeps an eye on everyone and everything, especially Harry. I shivered again wondering how much Harry knew about that night…about what was expected of him…of who he truly was…

I tried to turn my mind away from dark thoughts. I couldn't let it bother me if I was going to protect Harry from a traitor that was close to him. Instead I concentrated on Hogwarts, Gryffindor and the happy memories that I had of my time here. The memories of the adventures my friends and I had had back then made me smile. I wondered if Harry was having adventures and good times here too. Did he have friends who valued him for himself not his fame? Did he play Quidditch as his father had while in school? Was he in Gryffindor? Had he learned any of the secret passages that were in the castle? I smiled remembering all the adventures I'd been a part of while in school here and felt sure that Harry must be having some of his own. I smiled, even though I could still feel the power of the dementors nearby. The overwhelming urge to see Harry washed over me again and I resolved to wait for him. 

I looked around the area near the front entrance and found some bushes to hide in. I scrabbled into them and pushed my way through them until they covered me then I lay still to wait. After what seemed to be a long time, I heard the crunch of carriage wheels and the student's carriages came into view. Patiently I waited and at long last I was rewarded with the sight of Harry, with two people who were surely his friends in close attendance. They looked very concerned about something but I wasn't sure why they would be concerned unless it was about the dementors. Everyone was affected by them each in a different degree. Harry, I noticed, looked extremely pale and shaky. Something had happened on the train her I guessed and after a few minutes I discovered what.

"You fainted…" a pale, blonde boy said to Harry.

Harry said nothing to the pale boy who was sneering at him as he entered the school. Harry looked pale and even more shaken then before. He walked slowly up the steps toward the entrance and as he walked past me, I saw the look in his eyes. They were full of sadness and fear. I knew in that moment that Harry was affected by the dementors worse then anyone I had ever heard of. Their powers actually caused him to faint because he had so few happy thought within him for them to feed upon. He fainted because once those few happy thoughts were gone he had nothing to think of but the night his parents had been killed. I shuddered at the thought of what Harry must see and hear when he got near a dementor. I knew what I saw and heard but compared to what Harry must experience, mine was a walk in the park.

"Poor Harry…" I thought. "Maybe I should go far from here so that he can get some peace."

I couldn't leave him now though because just then I remembered something else, not something I'd seen but something I'd smelled. Peter had been in the group that had entered the castle. I couldn't leave Harry with a servant of Voldemort that close to him. I had to protect him as I had promised his parents I would, even at the cost of my own life. If I could capture Peter and prove to the Ministry that he was alive and a traitor, I would be helping Harry and myself. If I turned him in then my name would be cleared at last and I could get on with my life and Harry could live with me. Another part of my mind was questioning the logic of letting the traitor live…I tried to drive the thought of killing Peter with my own hands from my mind and yet…As I wiggled out of the bush and ran back to the forest I began to make my plans to capture the traitor.

Sorry this part took so long to post but I kept getting writer's block and then Goblet came out. Hope you like it…the story of Sirius Black is not over so there will be more parts just be patient. Thanks for reading this and now please review it…

WeasleyTwin2


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